Innocence
by Mountain King
Summary: Adria is called to oversee the conversion of yet another world, but one of it's inhabitants has a question about Ascension that leaves Priors and the Orici stumped.


Innocence

Authors note:-  
Just a little it of fun, I've been playing with.

Disclamer:-  
I do not own Stargate or Doctor Who and while some characters are mine I make no profit from them.

* * *

Adria stood on the bridge of the warship. before her shone the many billions of stars in this galaxy. The uncounted trillions of soon to be new worshipers to the Ori Cause. With that the blasphemers that first came to this Galaxy so long ago would be finally wiped from all of existence.

Truth would prevail as it always would. The truth that the Ori could dictate. So far the only real stumbling block had been the humans known as the Tau'ri of Earth. A small handful of idealists and fools trying to stop the inevitable. Her followers, the children of the Ori had all the worlds of their galaxy and more behind them.

Only it wasn't quite so fruitless. She could sense the hidden hand of fate behind them. The others had poured all their hopes into them. It still wouldn't be enough but there was always a chance. A possibility that once again they could snatch a victory when most unlikely.

Behind her she felt a presence. A Prior, awaiting her attention. She turned, it was not the One-Eyed servant that had tutored her early days. No this one was unfamiliar, until she reached out and in an instant knew all she cared to. 'Yes?' she asked archly, uncomfortable with her musing's being interrupted.

He bowed deeply, in reverence to her position as the guiding light of their religion. 'Great Orici I bring news of the great undertaking.'

Another update, her days were filled with them. With a barely hidden sigh she ordered; 'Continue.'

'Worlds that refuse the truth of enlightenment are few. Those that do are burned in the holy fires.'

She was about to congratulate him, a few formulaic phrases and he would go forth again, but Adria stopped herself. There was something more, she could sense it. 'And?'

'There is a world, it has chosen to hear the words of the Ori, yet they do not heed the message within them. They ask questions that I nor others can answer.'

'All the answers they seek are in the Book of Origin.' She reminded him.

'Yes Orici, we have taught them this and they have read from the book, but they still have questions. We do not understand.' he admitted, the Prior sounded defeated, confused even.

Adria could feel the riot of conflicting ideas. It should have been impossible but it was there. A seed of doubt. 'I will answer these questions, I will answer them and then we will decide if this world should be destroyed.'

* * *

The journey did not take long, and when she found it she was surprised. It appeared to be inhabited by a simple farming culture. A large world with a burnt orange sky, with high mountains and deep valleys. A scant handful of settlements were scattered across the planet's surface. Gathered where there was fresh water and farm land. Beyond them were large trees that seems to glitter in the gentle sun. There was no sign of industry or high technology. A simple people living a mundane simple lives.

The Prior took them to a small village set half way up on of the mountains. The buildings there were ancient, made of rough stone and mortar. Pack animals were used for transport and there was a sense of peace here she couldn't place anywhere else. All the struggles and battles she had to fight felt so far away here. There was an almost timelessness to it all.

Even her soldiers, heavily armed and supposedly occupying the town they arrived in appeared to be simple formalities. People passed them without fear or anger. Adria was used to some from of spectacle. A gathering of eager worshipers or crowds of fearful peasants. Here she was no more noticed than any other traveller.

The Prior by her side lead her to a small cobbled square in the middle of the town, nearby to a small fountain spring that bubbled clean water. By the fountain was a wizened old man, thinning white hair and a dazed smile. His withered form was hidden under home spun dull brown robes. Similar to the ones the other natives were wearing. 'This is Zard. He is the man we have been speaking to.' The Prior introduced her.

'You are the leader of your people?'

'Oh no.' he said, his voice a lot younger than she'd expected and very precise. He pronounced every word cleanly and with great care 'I'm just the one we agreed to speak with you and your people. We don't get visitors very often. I take it you are their leader.'

'I am Orici.' She announced proudly.

'Then perhaps you can answer the question your colleagues have been unable to.'

She got the feeling she was being manoeuvred into a trap, but knew the best was to push through. Whatever game this old man thought he was playing she could win. 'All questions are answered in the Book or Origin.'

'But I find that none of the important ones are asked.' Zard's smile didn't even flicker. He pulled a copy of the Book from his robes. 'I have read that through this and its instructions we can achieve Ascension, but what is Ascension?'

'It is the Enlightenment.' Adria answered, not seeing where they were going with this argument. 'The finding of truth.'

He nodded with practiced understanding and Adria was concerned to see that the Prior was also listening, with the same expression of empty curiosity. 'And when you have found that truth?'

'You have Ascended. Become, with that understanding, a higher being. That is what all beings strive for.' She pressed.

'And then what?' he asked innocently.

'You would be all powerful. A living god. All things would be possible for you.' She explained, still unable to see what his problem was.

Zard nodded to himself. 'Come with me.' he gently took her hand and led her down a dusty street. Adria was so shocked that anyone was foolish enough to touch her that she didn't even try to struggle. He took her to a street corner and then, with his free hand pointed to a peak, lost in the distance. 'The mountains of Solace and Solitude. On the southern slopes, past the Dry Lands, there is a place where a river carries diamonds from the heart of the mountain to its surface. When I was a young man I was in love. As many young men do I scaled that mountain I brought back a diamond for my love and she blessed me with a family. I had proven my devotion, I had proven the strength of my love to overcome my fears.' he patted her hand gently. 'Now my dear child, were I to climb that same mountain for you I would once again prove my strength. Even with this old body. But were I to simply conjure a diamond what would I have proven?'

'I don't understand.' Adria admitted, feeling lost for the first time in her short life.

'I would have achieved my goal you see. I would have retrieved my enlightenment, but where is the next adventure? Every ending is a chance at a new beginning, even death, but with the universe at my command what adventure is left?'

'You could bring your wife back to life with but a thought!' Adria told him, seeing a crack.

Zard shook his head sadly. 'I can do that now, my memories are but a thought away. I can share them with my children, my grand-children, as such she lives again.' The simple nobility he said it with cut into Adria like a knife.

Freeing her hand she looked around again. The peaceful serenity of it all was beginning to feel wrong. It wasn't that it was forced, quite the opposite. It was so alien to her. People living such simple, normal lives without the spectre of death. Without constant worship to the Ori. People free to go beyond the teachings. 'This is my question. This is our question to you. You tell us that our ultimate destiny is to become the beings of pure light. We ask, when your ultimate destiny is achieved what then?'

Adria turned her attention back to Zard. 'You cannot begin to understand.' She warned him. 'The gifts of the Ori…'

'Gifts come with a price, or they are worthless to both you and me, but let us return to understanding. As light I could travel even further than the eye can see and be there before I even knew it, but would I be able to hold your hand as I just did? Would we have the opportunity to discuss things as we do now?'

'There would be nothing to discuss.' she snapped, her temper rising.

Because I would know all as you do? But yet you cannot answer my question. What will you do when you have Ascended? You are the voice and will of your people. What use is that once you have achieved all you can achieve?'

'There are others. She warned him. 'They are evil. Once I am Ascended I will join with the Ori and together we will destroy them as well as those that follow them.'

'Evil, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I am an old man, what need have I of either?' he shot back.

'Then you are already lost and you will die. All of your people that follow you will die!' She half screamed at the obstinate fool.

'Yes, but it's not clear as to why.' He told her. 'If one does not chose ascension, your's or your rivals. How can our actions of neutrality damage your choice?'

'It creates doubt.' She announced, trying to bring others into the conversation, but they stubbornly refused to pay her any attention. 'Doubt can spread. Doubt must be removed.'

He sighed with regret. 'I feared that would be the case. It is a shame, without doubt how can one be sure of anything.'

Adria liked at him, there was a sense to his rebuttal. A logic that was there but it was as if it was just beyond her reach. 'You can chose to accept Origin, or you can chose destruction. There is no middle ground.' she pointed out.

Zard, that same dazed smile on his face, stood tall. 'Your religion has no room for questions, or doubt, then it has no room to grow. It is a cold dark and hollow place. It is no place for me, or my people. I am sorry.'

Adria sneered at him. 'Perhaps the example of your death will inspire others to make the right choice.' With that she used her powers to raise him of the ground. As he hung there, helpless before her. Adria let him hang there, finally drawing attention from those around them.

The Ori soldiers knelt as the Prior to her side indicated it was the correct response. Only there were no screams, no people crying out in fear. Just that same inhuman calm. Infuriated Adria flung the poor man, smashing is body into a wall hard enough to demolish it. Burying him in rubble.

Adria turned to the people and raise her hands in sermon 'You have all witnessed the power of…' but she trailed off. While the soldiers were on their guard, scanning for resistance with their weapons there was no crowd. People just turned continued with their daily lives. 'Behold…' She began, but again there was no reaction.

Then, to her shock, something behind her stirred. The remains of the collapsed wall were pushed to one side. 'I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this.' Zard's voice came from the pile. Adria was stunned to see the frail old man rise to his feet. His tattered robe hung to his shoulders, and his face was streaked with blood. Blood a shade or so lighter orange than it was supposed to be. 'You'll have to bare with me, this part is rather uncomfortable.'

There was something strange about him, he was almost glowing. Before her eyes Adria watched as a golden light began pouring from him. It was nothing like an Accession. The energy flowed like a water and then smoke. Coiling back around him. 'What, what is this?' She asked, all the knowledge of the Ori had not prepared her for what she was witnessing.

'Like… I said.' He struggled to say as he was enveloped. 'Every end… a new beginning!' With that his last words were swallowed by a scream. Not of agony, but somehow of life.

Then, just as quickly as it came, the cloud of golden energy seemed to expand and then fell to the ground. Like some sort of strange dust it seems to blanket the strewn rocks before disappearing entirely.

The man standing there was not Zard, but somehow was at the same time. He was young, in the prime of life and much taller, yet some how the robes still fit him. He pulled of the torn remains to reveal a black body suit with silver trim highlights and a large gold bangle on his wrist. All of which Adria realised were hidden before.

'Who? how?' she stammered.

Brushing dust off what was obviously some type of uniform the stranger 'What wonderful elocution. It's no wonder your followers flock to hear every word.' He said in that same precise accent, but his words were more clipped, edged with a mocking sarcasm he didn't have before. Not-Zard wiggled his little finger in small circles and hummed in thought. 'Something to look forward to in the future it seems. Now where were we? Oh yes, you were killing me to send a message regarding the fruitlessness of resisting your great crusade.'

'And you survived through witchcraft.' she snapped back. Reaching out with her senses she found all the natives were shielding their thoughts from her. 'All of you. This world is infested…'

He shook his head. 'This world is ours and has been for quite some time. While the humans of your galaxy were still discovering the questionable joys of beating each others heads in with blunt rocks my ancestors were traveling across time and space. This is Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords. We were legends before the Dark Times. We struck down the Great Star Vampires and defeated the Racnoss. Your Ori are but echoes of the nightmares we long ago cast into the void.'

As he spoke the Clouds obscuring the top of the mountain parted. There, in the distance, a vast building appeared. Hidden from sight and sensor it was unfeasibly massive. An immense glass dome held a castle that shimmered in the brown orange sky. It was easily a match for Celestis, the Holy city of the Ori. Only this was was cloaked in the evil of blasphemy It was in opposition to everything Adria stood for and believed

'Time Lords?' she whispered. They were legends, myths passed down from prehistory. Desperately she pulled together a bolt of pure energy and flung it at him.

The bright white burst flew straight and true. A killing blast, even more sure than the crushing blow of before. She would strike him down and march on this den of demons. She would prove the Ori's righteousness by obliterating this world.

The bolt of energy was unopposed, right up to a few feet from not-Zard, where without any apparent reason it swerved and swung harmlessly into the building behind him. He had twisted something on his bangle. It was some kind of control device but for what she had no idea. There was no other devices on him or the others nearby. 'Well now that that's cleared up, dear child, you have no further business her. I suggested you leave. You might want to do that.'

Adria touched the amulet on her necklace. A shard of the holy city that protected her from harm. 'I have an army, you are but one man.' She protested desperately.

'My you are observant aren't you. There are others of course, but it only takes one.' He touched his device again and in the blink of an eye the town vanished. Replaced with the command bridge of her own ship.

'We're back here.' The Prior gasped.

'Did we ever leave?' Adria asked. She could remember leaving the ship, but not the course or how long they took to get there.

The Time Lord smiled, it was that same soft smile he had in his previous form, but it wasn't dazed this time. This time it was predatory. 'Trans-spacial Transmat. It's amazing what you can do with a little actual knowledge. Opposed to dogma. I also took the liberty of removing the location of Gallifrey from your ship's computer, and your minds. We do so dislike uninvited guests.'

'Impossible.' Adria instead but she could feel the gap. It was right there without any effort he'd reached in and burnt the memories out. She tried to move, to order an attack on this demon that had so easily crossed impossible bounds, but she found herself frozen in place.

He continued to fiddle with his controls. Speaking idly as if he wasn't holding them all hostage. 'So you would think. Now before I go a little fatherly advice. Don't try to find my home again. There is a saying, not to provoke the ire of a Wizard, as we are often subtle and quick to anger.'

With that he faded away and Adria was free. So were everyone else on the bridge. Looking at them she knew what she had to do.

* * *

Half an hour later Adria, Orici of the Ori landed her one man shuttle on a planet. the nearest one with a secure Stargate. With an override command Adria ordered a self destruct, destroying the ship, killing the crew and removing all evidence of what had happened. With that she activated the transport device and stepped through.

From his Temporal Spyglass The Wizard, Coordinator Agent of the Celestial Intervention Agency observed this and sighed. Pulling up the file in question he quickly reviewed it and recorded his observations. 'Minimum deviation from established course confirmed. Temporal alteration impact; negligible.' Looking back at the predicted timeline he sighed. 'Well it was worth a try.'

End Innocence

Authors postscript:-

Yeah, I did basically rip this premise from the Classic Trek Episode Errand of Mercy. Thing is it's a common Sci-Fi trick. The super advanced race arrives, assumes it is so superior from the natives only to find that it's anything but.

It was something the Ori from Stargate were just screaming out for. Their unfounded arrogance needed a kick.


End file.
